Pages

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Irony, Part II

Visit #803, Sunday 30 June 13, 4:20-7:10PM, 6.8 miles
Temps in the 80's, with dense fog, and extremely high humidity.

I titled this post, "Irony, Part II" because last week I walked the road from the park to the north end of Merimere Reservoir, while this week I worked my way backwards down the road from the Castle, completing a cleaning of the road.

I hadn't been up to the Castle in many weeks and thought the parking lot might be in real need of cleaning. I rode my bike up there on Sunday morning to confirm and get an idea of how much work would be involved, if any.

So I began by the playground and walked my way to the reservoir, up to the Halfway House, then up to the Castle. While the heat wasn't so bad, the greater than 90% humidity left me drenched. The conditions also brought out the gnats and mosquitoes; the bugs were worse than the sweating.

The humidity, combined with the cloudy skies, made it impossible to see Hubbard Park proper from the Castle.

Believe it or not, you're looking from the Castle parapet wall down toward the park, which is usually in view.

By the time I was done picking up trash around the Castle and the parking lot, I had filled my first bag.

Among the goodies I found were someone's dreams of winning the lottery. I'd guess it's still a dream for them.

On the short stretch of road from the Castle to the fork between East and West Peak, I'd filled another trash bag as well as found a bag of trash in the woods.

I walked down the road scanning both sides and swatting bugs at the same time.

By the time I reached the north end of Merimere Reservoir, where I turned around last week, I filled a third bag.

Heading toward the park, I found these tires dumped in the tall grass. I pulled them out and placed them roadside.

Back at the playground, I deposited my fourth bag.

Actually, I guess the past two weeks' sessions coincidentally worked out well, for the trails and the road should look pretty good for the July 4th holiday.